Anxiety In College Essay

At a college dorm, a student by the name of Alyssa had a panic attack, also known as an anxiety attack. The first stage was nausea. Her heart began beating too fast she thought it might explode and when her arms began shaking, she thought she was going to die. When her boyfriend broke up with her, the result was this anxiety attack. Many people suffer from anxiety attacks every day through overwhelming stress, immense pressure, or even being scared. A study showed about fifty-four percent of college students report feeling overwhelming anxiety. Anything can trigger an anxiety attack even something as small as a breakup. Philip Meilman, a professor of psychology at Georgetown University stated that “Problems are more urgent than ever” also

claiming that many students concerns are anorexia, alcoholic, and being suicidal which leads to anxiety. According to Benjamin Locke, associate director of clinical services at Penn State, one of every three students start college with a prior diagnosis or social stress disorder caused by anxiety attacks. Ten percent of those students have been hospitalized beginning in early 2014. Until recently, anxiety vied with disabling depression and relationship problems. “For forty-seven percent of clients seeking counseling..anxiety is the primary complaint. Students feel overwhelmed. They can’t manage.”

　　Author of the textbook perspective

　　The author of the book states that “anxiety is the most frequently occurring mental disorder in the general population” (pg.350).

It informs us that some of the common symptoms of anxiety are rapid breathing, dry mouth, and increased heart rate that plague people during stressful moments. Although some people experience anxiety that is so severely intense and chronic, it creates conflicts in their everyday life. Feeling threatened, unable to cope, unhappy, and insecure in a world that seems dangerous and hostile can put a burden on many people thus raising their anxiety level to new lengths. There are four types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Though these anxiety disorders are sightly different, the main components are the inability to keep breathing under control, dizziness and fear. Psychological contributions of anxiety disorders are in the form of faulty cognitive and maladaptive learning. “People with anxiety disorders have habits of thinking, or cognitive habits, that make them prone to fear”(pg.352). They tend to watch out for signs of danger, identify threats and be very hypersensitive although its all being controlled in their mind, not logically. “According to the learning theorists, anxiety disorders generally result from conditioning and social learning”(352). Something as small as a spider would be paired with a frightening event thus becoming a conditioned stimulus that triggers

anxiety attacks. Some biological information states that “some people with panic disorders seem to be genetically predisposed toward an overreaction of the automatic nervous system” (pg.352). It plays with people minds, it makes them believe something that is not occurring and turning it into a serious condition in which one can not control. Psychological and biological factors were the main components that contribute to an anxiety attack and it was all in the behavior and mind of a human.

　　Opinion

　　When talking about any disorders, it is helpful to familiarize yourself with the aspects and components of that disorder. Anxiety disorders are one to take seriously and learning about the different kinds of anxiety disorders and what triggers them is a helpful way for someone with that disorder to deal with it. I have dealt with people who had anxiety attacks before. One of my friends one day was going crazy, she was pacing and had her hands on her head as if she was thinking. Clearly I did not know what was happening though I thought she was just thinking really hard about something but then she started breathing heavy and pacing really fast. She started shouting and crying and then I realized she was having a panic attack because she did not study for her final that was coming up. I thought it was no big deal but I guess people deal with the amount of stress differently and she ended up having a panic attack because of it. From that experience and reading about anxiety disorders it makes me aware of how serious you may think something small is can cause another person to go into a panic state. I personally think anxiety disorders can cause some serious trauma to one person but I also think if someone with an anxiety disorder or with any disorder for that matter reads about it and understands it and maybe gets some help, it can change them behaviorally and emotionally. My friend has had about three anxiety attacks in her life and she is only 19. Its bad for the mind and can play tricks on you, but after reading about anxiety attacks, it is a good tool in helping someone deal with it.